Curragh previews: Mustameet can continue his recent hot-streak by securing a valuable Group Three victory in today's Curragh feature.
The Kevin Prendergast-trained five-year-old lines up in the ladbrokes.com International Stakes against a strong field that includes the British raiders Killybegs and Kings Point.
Killybegs looks the best of those two based on an easy Craven victory in the spring, and a narrow defeat by Aussie Rules as a two-year-old, and he could ultimately prove the major threat to a local Curragh victory.
That takes into account the presence of the main Ballydoyle hope Ace who has been placed umpteen times at the top level and whose best form makes him a stand out at this level.
However, in his last couple of starts Ace has not looked the same horse that ran second in the Breeders' Cup and at the Royal Ascot meeting last year.
He got into a stew before both the Coronation Cup and the Prince Of Wales and could be worth opposing now with Mustameet who sluiced up over the Derby weekend and who also defeated Chelsea Rose at Leopardstown before that.
The handicap highlight will be the €100,000 Rockingham and the circumstances look good for the topweight Osterhase to emulate his weight-carrying heroics in this race two years ago.
Osterhase is running off the same mark he won off then and crucially he also has possession of the number one stall against the rails. Fran Berry's tactic will be a simple jump and go and unlike a couple of weeks ago there doesn't appear to be a Dandy Man capable of getting by him.
Berry also looks to have a good chance in the mile-and-six handicap aboard the fast-ground loving Moratorium. Noel Meade's horse returned after a long break in a hurdle race at Gowran and will relish the conditions.
This weekend's jumping action will be at Sligo tomorrow and Barry Geraghty can get the meeting off to the perfect start with a win on Bernabeu in the opening maiden hurdle.
The ex-Andre Fabre-trained horse has had three hurdle starts in Ireland to date and notched up a pair of runner-up placings at Tipperary before running out a winner on the flat at Bellewstown last week. That first jumping success should come tomorrow.
Sally's Dream was another to run at Bellewstown and a third to Jubilant Note looks good enough form to see her with a big shout in the mares bumper.
Ecole D'Art finally got off the mark over hurdles at Down Royal last time but could be foiled in a follow-up by Norborne Bandit in the novice hurdle.
